Take My Hand
by thinking in blue
Summary: Because she's the only thing that ever mattered to her.


This was something I wrote about a year ago for the Miss Literati Hunger Games contest. It got second place, which took me by complete surprise, and I won a box set of the Hunger Games. I wondered what would happen if I put it up on my fanfiction account, so uh.. enjoy!

* * *

It was chaos after the bombs fell, nothing like the chaos I was accustomed to. Children crying, soldiers shouting orders, people running franticly in every direction, blood in the snow. Through it all I see her, the girl with the blond braid and the duck tail from her untucked shirt. Prim, my Prim. I call out to her, hoping she can hear me over the din. She whips her head to the sound of her name. She looks older. Grown up, but not worn down.

"Katniss." She says, grinning widely. I smile back, with almost more enthusiasm. My lips chap from the cold. I don't care. The battle raging around us slows, there is no din, no chaos. Just Prim and me, smiling at each other like two long-lost friends.

"Tuck your tail in, little duck." I say, just as I did the day of the reaping. She laughs, I miss her laugh. She walks closer to me.

"Take my hand." She says. She holds out her hand for me to take, I reach out to grab it.

And that's when the rest of the parachutes go off.

I'm burning, burning brightly. I'm on fire. I am the fire. The pain is unbearable, I want to scream, I want to shout at the top of my lungs, but I can't. I'm tired, tired, so tired. Tired of being the fire, Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire. I can't fight much longer, I don't want to fight the fire anymore. I've fought the fire too long. I let the flames engulf me, and then, I feel nothing at all.

I wake to find myself back in Tigris' basement. My skin feels smooth and flawless. My mockingjay armor doesn't have a rip, dent, or tear on it. My hair is neatly braided and tucked behind my ear. I can hear the people upstairs, my father singing, Rue's gentle tread, Cinna and Portia discussing the pros and cons of fur underwear, Madge on the piano, Finnick and Mags sharing memories of District Four, and over everything, I hear Prim's laughter. I climb the stairs, knowing that the only place in the world I want to be is with them.

There's a surprise waiting on the top step, a loaf of bread with an arrow in it. I pick it up, and they call to me.

"Katniss." I look at the loaf and smile, I have some unfinished business.

They're waiting for me at the bottom of the steps, Gale dressed to go hunting, just like we used to do.

"Katniss, I'm so sorry." Gale says as I approach, "It was my bomb. I was the one who came up with the idea, I had no idea Coin would use it to-"

"I don't blame you," I tell him, "and you shouldn't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault. You were dedicated to your cause. Your dedication is one of your best qualities." I pull the arrow out of the bread and hand it to him. "You're going to need this. Somebody still has to kill Snow."

"You should."

"I can't, you have to do it for me."

"I love you Catnip."

"I love you too Gale, and I only wish I said it sooner. Goodbye Gale, the best hunting partner I could have."

"Goodbye."

"And may the odds."

"Be ever in your favor." He says with a ridiculous Capitol accent, and walks away. I know he'll take care of Snow, and look after my mother. She's going to need someone after what happened.

Peeta appears, shackled to the wall. "Katniss," he starts, "You can't leave. I wasn't kidding when I told you I have no one to live for."

"I know you weren't, and it saddens me that I am the only thing you live for. Peeta, you're so good to me, you always have been. I thank you for that, but it's time to share you're charm with another girl." I say as I remove the shackles from the wall.

"You're the only girl I want."

"You haven't been looking hard enough." I hand him the bread "During my darkest hour, you gave me bread, you gave me hope. There's a girl out there who needs you, go find her. If you give her half the love you gave me, she'll be a very lucky girl."

"I love you so much Katniss."

"I love you too Peeta, and this time I sincerely mean it. Goodbye Peeta, my boy with the bread."

"Goodbye Katniss."

"You're finally more than a piece of the games, real or not real?"

"Real." He says, and walks away. I know there's a future for him. He deserves to be happy, he needs it more than anyone I know.

I can leave no with now regrets, no unsaid words, there's nothing holding me back. I climb the stairs, finally able to join them. Everyone is there, Dad, Rue, Thresh, the old man from District 11, Bonnie, Twill, Cinna, Mags, Wiress, Madge, Boggs, Finnick, Prim, and all the other faces I saw in the sky.

"We've been waiting for you." My Dad tells me.

"Daddy?" I say unbelievingly, and only hesitate a second before running into his arms. I've been waiting for years for him to hold me like he used to. He's the only man I want to hold me. "I've missed you so much."

"Who says I went anywhere?"

"Katniss," It's Prim, my sweet Prim. "Katniss, take my hand."

I take Prim in my left, Dad in my right, and together, we move on.

_Fin_


End file.
